‘Justice Will Always Prevail’: Venezuela’s Maduro Celebrates Assange Freedom

Mexico City, Mexico, June 25, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro welcomed the news that Wikileaks founder and political prisoner Julian Assange was released Monday from custody in the UK.

“On behalf of the people of Venezuela we embrace and congratulate Julian Assange on his release. It is the triumph of freedom and humanity’s fight for respect for human rights. Assange is an example of courage and bravery in the battle for the truth. Justice will always prevail!” wrote Maduro on social media. 

Assange was released in a deal with the US Department of Justice that saw him plead guilty to violating US espionage law. 

A video released Monday by the Wikileaks account showed the journalist boarding a flight at London Stansted Airport. He will be required to formally accept his plea bargain before US authorities in the city of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands before eventually continuing onto his native Australia.

The Wikileaks founder had spent the past five years in the super-max Belmarsh Prison, where he reportedly suffered ill health. British authorities were scheduled to rule on the US’ extradition request in the coming weeks. The agreement with the US will see him sentenced to time served. 

Assange’s release marks the end of more than a decade of persecution that saw him first take refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London before being unceremoniously dragged out by police after former Ecuadorean President Lenín Moreno revoked his asylum in violation of that country’s laws.

Rafael Correa, Moreno’s predecessor who granted Assange diplomatic protection, said that with his release, “the world is a little less unfair” while also denouncing his persecution. 

“They have stolen 12 years of a journalist’s life for telling the truth,” Correa told RT, adding “The real war criminals went unpunished. The one who spoke out against war crimes was persecuted.”

Luis Arce, president of Bolivia, also condemned the violation of Assange’s asylum.

“His crime was revealing war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by imperialism. This event reminds us that revolutionary struggle is essential to achieve freedom and social justice,” said the Bolivian President. 

Other Latin American leaders, such as ranking Chavista Diosdado Cabello, also objected to the apparent hypocrisy. Cabello previously criticized former United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet for her denunciations of alleged human rights violations in Venezuela while staying silent on the political persecution of Assange. 

Assange’s work exposing US war crimes and meddling in Latin American countries’ internal affairs saw his cause taken up by progressive and leftist regional leaders. Mexico’s Andés Manuel López Obrador, who met with Assange’s brother and father and offered asylum to Assange, also praised his release, saying it brought happiness to millions.

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called his liberation a “victory for democracy and the fight for press freedom.” 

In their legal case, US authorities attempted to challenge the notion that Assange was a journalist, arguing that his work via Wikileaks amounted to espionage, putting the US at odds with press freedom organizations. 

“Julian Assange faced a prosecution that had grave implications for journalists and press freedom worldwide,” said Committee to Protect Journalists CEO Jodie Ginsberg. 

“While we welcome the end of his detention, the US’s pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent by opening the way for journalists to be tried under the Espionage Act if they receive classified material from whistleblowers. This should never have been the case,” said Ginsberg in a statement. 

Among other exposés, the work of Wikileaks confirmed accusations of US political meddling throughout Latin America. In 2010, WikiLeaks published a US embassy cable in which the American ambassador to Caracas outlined a plan to interfere in Venezuelan elections using Facebook. Other cables revealed cooperation between US agencies and NGOs aligned with the Venezuelan opposition. 

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.